A tale of two movements

OLD buildings, be it monuments or ordinary houses, have something interesting hidden in them that gets unravelled with the passage of time. I experienced it during a visit to Amritsar, my hometown. The trip took me back more than half a century and brought alive events that rewrote the history of Punjab.

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Almost all houses in the locality where we had shifted to from our village in the mid-1950s have been rebuilt or extensively renovated, conforming to contemporary styles of architecture. Among the exceptions is the house originally owned by Giani Gurmukh Singh Musafir, a Congress leader who served as the Chief Minister of Punjab in 1966-67.

Bereft of any repairs or alterations, it retains its original look. However, the vagaries of weather have scalped the layers of paint, revealing a historic slogan written on the front wall — Punjabi Suba ban ke rahega. The Punjabi Suba movement had dominated the state’s politics during the 1950s and 1960s. This movement and the pushback it received led to an intra-Punjab battle, which culminated in the redrawing of the state’s map.

I was barely 10 years old at that time. Processions in support of this movement were taken out in various localities. It was common for the participants to write slogans on walls of houses. There was simmering rancour and reservation among a section of the Punjabis who felt ignored by the movement. Thus, it failed to become a pan-Punjabi agitation.

Unmindful of its political and religious ramifications, children like me could not have asked for better entertainment than being part of the jaloos and jalsa (processions and gatherings). During the apparently secretive parleys among various groups, we could overhear their misgivings. These were insignificant for us as we were simply enjoying the proceedings.

The movement was at its zenith when the first post-Independence Census was conducted in 1961. The rival faction in Punjab launched a parallel movement, albeit in the form of door-to-door canvassing and secret meetings, to get a language other than Punjabi registered as the “mother tongue”. This impacted the Census data, which eventually became the basis for the reorganisation of Punjab on linguistic lines and the creation of Haryana in 1966. Kids like me had a feel of this movement as well.

Well, the rest is history. It is hard to say who won, but both movements undoubtedly left a permanent scar on our innate Punjabiat.